Not a new Window(s)

Can you believe it? Vista is working on being 2 years old and Microsoft is already replacing it! Microsoft Vista has been labeled a world-class bomb. Microsoft is working to pump more money from consumers. Windows 7 is not an upgrade to repair many of Vista's issues. It is another operating system! If you want it, you have to pay for it!

I jumped on the Vista bandwagon when it came out. I will not be jumping the tracks any time soon for Windows 7. As intriguing as it looks, and it does look good, I am extremely afraid that Windows 7 is another of Microsoft's over bloated, bug ridden operating system.

My advice, stay away! If you are using Windows XP, there is no need to change. You have the best Windows version since Win98. If you are using Vista, hold off until they get the bugs worked out. At the rate Microsoft is going wait three years and get the Windows 8.

Do you like Chrome?

I just downloaded Google's new browser, Chrome. So far it is better than IE and faster than Firefox. I am not plugging Google for Google, but I know how some people like to try out new things. Chrome is new. It imported my bookmarks from Firefox without any difficulty. It might do the same for IE. It is fast, even when loading the usually slow, for me, Beliefnet pages.

Try Chrome. You might like it.

Self-identification

Years ago, I stopped being white and became a Native American. Parts of my family were standing on the Virginia shores when the first sail appeared in the James River. Now, I have dropped the 'Native' part and I identify myself as an American. There are too many roots in my family tree to start trying to identify with one cultureal background.

I was born in this country. I am who I am. I am an individual, just like Barack Obama, and I can choose my own self-identity. We are who we want to be and not what others label us as being.

What would we say if Obama self-identified as white? Funny that.

Put that cracker down!

Let's look at this...

There are about 305 million people in the US. 470 people have been sick from eating tainted peanut butter. Six people have died from eating said peanut butter. Why such a fuss? Do people not realize that so far only 0.000001% of the population have died from salmonella poisoning from peanut butter? So far, only 0.000154% had been made ill!!

Now, look at this...

On average, the CDC reports on average of 14 million cases of reported Salmonella poinsoning every year. Of those 14 million, the average number of deaths is 600.

The media is making a Mt Everest out of a little bittie 'piss' ant hill. Be cautious, but not scared!!

No freedom from Speech

I am working on what is hopefully my last year before I get my Bachelor's degree. I have to take speech. Ugh! I'm sorry, Communications 1010. It is the most over-analyzed, over-emphasized subject I have seen. If you have taken a similar course, you know what I am talking about. This class is required and that is the only reason I am taking it.

Leave GAZA

Israel, you need to leave Gaza. You will never have peace until you stop being the bully on the block.

So far from home...

The image with this post is a picture of our home as taken from the Cassini probe orbiting Saturn. Doesn't it look small and insignificant? Taken in 2006 (I just stumbled on it), shows the Earth through the gaps in Saturn's rings. If you can't see it, it's in the upper right center of the picture. Yes, the little blue dot!. All the known intelligence in the universe (as far as we know) is on that little blue dot. How precious we are. How precious we ALL are!

SAVE THE PORN!

I was tickled this morning when I found out that Larry Flint was going to apply for bailout money from Congress. Why not? As Flint said, 'everyone is asking for money.' I agree. If Congress is going to bail out business that made their own beds, why not bail out businesses that are made in the bed.

No, I am not treating this lightly. Setting aside moral issues, if the porn industry truly is in need of financial help, then it should be treated equally as banks and auto makers. Fling and the producer of "Girls Gone Wild" are asking for $5billion citing the failing economy is seriously damaging their business. the porn film industry is a legitmate business in the United States with American's spening $8 billion annually. THAT is a lot of skin.

I would suggest Congress tred carefully. If they dismiss Flint due to religious preferences, then I see a Supreme Court case coming. Congress cannot, and rightfully so, refuse to help the porn industy based on morals. That can be argued as a First Amendment violation. I am sure, however, there are reasons why Congress can deny help based on other grounds.

Let's see what happens.

ET is out THERE

We all know that tens of thousands of people yearly see things in the sky they cannot explain. Thousands develop the idea that our planet is being visited by beings from other planets. Unfortunately, thousands more have theories that the world governments know about these visitors and are either keeping it a secret to protect the Earth's population or by conspiring with these visitors to take over the world.Well, as long as those conspiracy theorists leave me alone, I'm cool with their...uh...quirkiness.

Surprisingly, there is a growing number of scientists who believe that live exists elsewhere in our universe. I also would fall into this group that believe there are intelligent civilizations out there. However, I do not believe that we are being visited by alien beings. All the UFOs that are seen buzzing around are not aliens but misidentified natural occurring objects or man-made objects. The real measurable evidence is missing. Until that evidence can be supplied there is no proof, only supposition and, admittedly, we are left with a mystery.

Photographs? I have seen enough out of focus, fuzzy photographs of nocturnal lights to be an expert. These images supply such low quality that true identification of an object impossible. There is nothing to gauge distance, size or movement. Sadly, the best photos that I am seen of alien spacecraft have either been Photoshop'd or animated. (YouTube is great!)

Abductions? There has not been one eye witness to an alien abduction. No abductee has ever brought back a piece of evidence. (Those so called 'implants' are not evidentuary enough to be conclusive proof.) There are more valid explanations of the abduciton experience than the fantastic alien version.

Show me the smoking gun that proves aliens are visiting Earth. I believe in aliens, but I don't believe they are grey.

"UFO Hunters" Critical investigation?

I have found myself watching "UFO Hunters" on the History Channel or on the SciFi Channel. This is no big deal because I am always watching something about UFOs whenever it is on the television. I have grown to dislike "UFO Hunters." They set up to investigate UFO sightings with great scientific care to explain what is really going on. Unfortunately, they fall short of REAL scientific examination. They continually select what evidence they want to prove that a sighting was an alien visitation.

This bring about an interesting question. Is "UFO Hunters" really interested in the scientific pursuit of extraterrestial visitations or are they just feeding the conspiracy? There can be no real scientific investigation as long as evidence is sifted to support a desired outcome. Science is about truth. If you collect all the available evidence and come up with the incorrect solution, then you are not using the scientific method. Using the scientific method, you collect the ALL the evidence and report on what you find, not what you want to find by discounting conflicting that disproves the desired outcome. "UFO Hunters" does this week after week.

There is no critical investigation in what "UFO Hunters" does. It only serves to feed the UFO/Alien conspiracy subculture. There is money to be made by the television networks and "UFO Hunters" is a vehicle of that.